Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125871
The demise of a virgin: Turning a $200 trick By Ann A. Powell S UN NYMEAD , CAL.,JULY 14 There was a maid en hill at De Anza, unspo iled by hum ans or bulldo zers. So sure was park owner Doug Hall that thi s hill co uld Ul Z Ul Ul 'e" !!! z z a Ul "Move yer foot, Bobby, wh ile I dust under it" .. • the makings of an int imat e re lationship between Bobby Ross a nd Nelson Fo nte at OCI R. Sexton too k over the second sp ot, pushing Mike to the limit all the way to the checkered nag in the Scratch Main event. Dubb Ferrell added Scott Sivadge to . the list of riders that have fallen by the wayside in th e Purple Helmet Match Race. The promoter at Bakersfield we n t one better than Ventura when they added the ci ty team Match ra ce special to their program. Bakersfield went down to Ventura 's Dean York and Andy Cadotte with a 3·2 - 0-1 score fo r Dan Toomey and George Ferrell. Later Taft, rep resented by th e Smi th Bro th ers gave way to the Pasadena te am o f Rich Farren and J im Grogin 3-1 to 0-2. Irwindale. California Ju ly 25. 1974 Don Cullum h as ha d o ne of t he worst runs o f bad luc k th is season with o ne bi ke fail ure af ter another, b ut he brought it to a s top this T h ursday n igh t by winning th e Han dicap Main event for the first time t h is season . J an Balla rd and Sonny Nutter pressed h ard , but finished 2·3 . Rick Woods ro de his sec o nd even t of the year after bypassing Wed n esday nigh t's show at Bakersfield, but did n o t get into ei ther Main even t although h e does look good o n a big t rac k. Mike Bast, who looks gre at on any size track , put the Scratch Main event aw ay wi th brother Steve taking th e sec ond spot, Dub b Ferrell fo r t hird and Nutter the wrap up . In th e feat ur e Matc h ra ce, Danny Becker (wh o is ta kin g th e we e k off fo r body repair) was rep laced by Bill Cody who we nt do w n to the charge of Dubb Ferrell. O.C.I.R. July 24. 1974 T he enth usiastic th ro ng saw dual license h older Nelson Fonte hold off Bob b y Ro ss in the Scratch Main eve nt. Ross was just awarded his dual license last week. Ross has been the p oin t leader at the track so his second in t he Scr atch Main and his th ird in the Handicap Main will no t hurt him in th e points race. The de sert ac e, Big Jim F ish back, ma y have gotten a late start in Speedway , but closed t he points gap lead by wins su ch as his Handicap victory. • Woods returns, but Steve Bast wins By Dale Bro wn , , COST A MESA , CAL.,J ULY 26 Rick Woo ds ca me back to Oran ge County Fairgrounds th is week for th e first ti me since his retirement, getting a standing ovat io n as a "wel c ome hom e " fr om t h e standing - room ·on ly crowd. Unfortunately , it was t he high p oin t of his eveni ng . Woods slid out in t he first tu m of the Handicap Hea t an d had to settle fo r a th ird in h is Scratc h He at, fail ing to a dvance. Mike Bast was inflicted with the same kind of luck. A nat tire ended his bid for a position in the Handicap and he was fo rced into th e infield during the Scrat ch Main. Ron Taylor wo n t he Hand icap, figh ting off a stiff challenge from Bill Meister. Steve Bast came in third , and went o n to win the Scratch Main . English Speedway builder Alf Hagon was amo ng t he spectators. watching his so n Mar k take one of the Mini Heats to share the victory p bdium with Lance Kin g. • Mike Konle and Dubb Ferrell tangle during the second Scratch -5emi. not b e conquered th at he offered $100 to the first rider wh o could fo rc e the mound in to subm ission . Hall 's money and the hill 's virginity looked safe as rider after rider failed to get it up even halfway on the 600 feet of extremely loose sand and gravel. Hardly a bit of brush h ad been pulled aWay wh en Wes Evans, on a stock 400 Suzuki , held the crowd spellbound with an amazing thrust. But, when the dust finally settled, Evan s could be seen motionless just below the peak at the 560 foot marker, 40 feet from $100. "Tve got an extra $20 for the first rid er 0 ver , " yelled o ne excited spectator. "'11 add $ 10 to th at," said a no th er. "Add a buck from m e," offered a third. The pot gr ew , and the bigge st bikes of all came to th e line. T here were seven bikes in th e Open class. They wer e ridden by seven of the top hillclimb ers in Southern California. Joh n Bjor km an , known for bei ng th e on ly man to top another difficult De Ariza hill, bombe d o ut at the 105 foo t mark. His h igh ly modi fied Triumph wi th the big pad dle wheel hit a r oo t and came to a fast ha lt. Mike Gebh ar dt, on a fud burning Norton, made it to the 151 foot level. J erry Bamford's Kaw asa ki we nt 100 feet , broke down a n d was out of co m pe ti t ion fo r the res t o f the da y. Th en came the big man , the "King o f the Hillclimb ers," Neal Mackel. "There is now $220 up for the firs t ma n to to p the h ill ," said the an no uncer, a nd Mac kel 's engine roared . The su n ca ug ht the sh iny chrom e pipes as Mac hit th e hill. Then came th e cloud of dust . T h ere was a m oment of te nsio n as everyone wondered abou t the dus t cloud near the top of th e hill . After what seemed hours but was on ly minutes, the dust settled and the monit or at t he top of th e hill was givin g the sign . Mac had brough t th e hill to submission! Mackel's stand ing ovation lasted a full five m in u tes, the tim e it too k him to walk his bike back down the long grad e. Even the n, th e excitement didn' t die down. There were st ill th ree more bikes to try t he hill, a nd maybe now th ey , too, would go over . s tart the nex t pot ," said one jazzed spectator. '" 'II put up I 0 fo r the seco n d man to lo p the hill !" As before, the pot grew quickly. But the th ree bi kes could not match Mackel's run . The first ro und of comp~tition was o ver. By the time the Open class cam e up a seco nd time , the hill was really ro ugh , and t he pot had grown to over 5 I 00 again. Mackel tri ed a second t im e, but on ly went to the 463 foo t mark. Ed Sh aver, who had bombed out at 1 70 fee t on his first try, was on the hill . Good as he is and hot as his bike runs, no one really expec te d him to do much th is second tim e around. Shaver went over the top and earned $ 10 1.64 fo r h is efforts. De Anza 's hill had los t its virginity , but th at did little to dampen the spirits. Mackel anno unced that he was putting $1 00 o f his p rize money in to a p o l for the ne xt cl imb to be held on the hill. Sh aver added ano the r 525 . The new pot was alrea d y building and th e troph ies hadn't even been handed o ut for this climb . " We want to build things up so that so me of th ose riders from u p no rth will co me down," said Mackel, "We wa nt to . see if their big Harleys ca n ha ndle th is hill. If the pot lo o ks tempting en ough , • th ey j us t migh t co me d own. " - ..... VI ~ ... -< ~ut..c"11O'" 1I"l ,,....o " . 'U n.. oz.\\ u.s,an • BIO-DECRADABLE • B.I TES PLUG-FOUUNG • I ROVES PERFORMANCE • ECO leAL PUFORMANCE- K OLOGY- W aRICAn ON For • brodt Uf'l writll0: LU B RI C A TI O N D Y N AM ICS 1109 No. AJ AwnuI . ....... CIIifDmia911(M ... The front end that works! ex your Money Back. T hese Fro nt End Dampening Un its are designed for RACING over rough terra in. They w ill give you a ride second to none ' No mocht.catIOns. lust bolt in the new units' CZ %" longer than st ock, pri ex to ' 74. CZ 1" longer than st oc k ' 74 (Iate l , Yamaha 8" travel. Suzuki 8" travel . 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